Thanksgiving

We are incredibly blessed to live so close to our families, and we really enjoy the times when we can get together.  This year, however, Jordan decided that he wanted our immediate family (i.e. just the four of us) to celebrate the holiday.  So we loaded up the car, headed down to Spokane and found a hotel with an indoor pool.  Thanksgiving morning found us all splashing around the heated pool, the kids giddy with excitement. 
 
 
Later that evening, we had a bountiful dinner at the Davenport, a posh hotel downtown.  Jordan relished one of his favorite dishes (baked brie en croute), Annabel was vibrant in her party dress and Thane was thrilled to eat the contents of the huge cheese platter to his heart's content.  I, of course, loved knowing that all of my peeps were having so much fun. 

Don't be envious and think that I got out of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner entirely.  Jordan absolutely HAD to have leftovers, and I was happy to oblige by cooking up a full meal when we got home.  Gratefully, Jordan's folks were eager to help us eat our feast, and a good time was had by all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rustic Retreat

If you tried to reach us last week and we didn't return your call, it's because we were gone - long gone.  We have been blessed with the use of a cozy cabin owned by friends of our family.  The cabin sits in the middle of their remote property about 30 miles from our home.  Unlike our house, this place is surrounded by huge old trees.  I had almost forgotten the heavenly sound of the wind blowing in the leaves, and I relished every moment of it during our stay.

There is a tiny, spring-fed pond in front of the cabin, and it was an incredibly serene sight upon which to gaze:

The cabin was a peaceful, relaxing oasis.  We all loved it, for various reasons.  The kids loved the different ecosystem there, and they spent hours exploring nature (or, like Thane in the photo below, plotting their next snow ball strike).

 Jordan, of course, took a few days to chill out. 
 
Thankfully, by the end of the week he was much more relaxed as he took advantage of the best seats in the house to catch up on his ever-growing reading pile. 

 

One day, we took some time to drive out to civilization to check our phone messages.  We sure were glad we did when we learned that Jordan's grandparents would be making an unexpected visit to town.  After a great lunch, we drove Grandpa Frank and Grandma Bobi out to the cabin.  The kids had a blast visiting with Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandma's dog.

 

It was a wonderful week, and I don't think any of us were ready to get back to reality. 

Butchering

We got snow last night and the temperature is currently hovering around 28.  It sure does feel like winter has officially arrived, despite what the calendar says!  I shouldn't be so surprised, however, as we are finishing up our fall chores.  I canned pumpkin with Jordan's mom yesterday (43 pints in all), and I'm planning on cooking up a triple batch of cranberry rum sauce tomorrow.

As much space as all of the canning equipment takes in my kitchen, that's nothing compared to the mess we make butchering our animals.  This year, we had to carve meat from two pigs, two lambs, two geese, and numerous chickens.  During this season of slaughter, my kitchen looks like a war zone!  Meat and by-products cover every square inch of space, and let's just say that it's a good thing that nobody stops by the house for an unexpected visit.  I'm sure they would be horrified at the site!

Despite the mess, we are grateful for lots of delicious meat.  Knowing that our meat comes from happy, healthy animals is great, but that farm fresh taste is even better.  Come by for a visit - we'd be happy to share!  Just look at those hams...

Halloween Happiness

I don't know about you, but Harvest/Halloween festivities seemed much less chaotic when I was a kid.  Not that we're complaining, mind you.  We were just busy.  It all started Friday evening, when the kids dressed in their costumes for the annual Halloween Kiddie Parade in town.  Thane, as you can see, tried his best to be a big, fierce bear.  Admit it - you're afraid, aren't you?

Annabel, who dressed up as Astrid from "How to Train Your Dragon," was slightly more convincing in her role.  Her Dad thinks that her costume was great.  That is, after all, how he wants boys to remember her - as a warrior who can whip their butts if they even think about getting out of line in the future! 

Saturday, we drove along the Columbia River to help some friends clear brush and work on their cabin.  Later that night, we relaxed around a wonderfully warm bonfire and roasted orange, pumpkin-shaped marshmallows.  

Thane thought that the marshmallows were a huge hit, and he took advantage of the thick darkness to sneak as many as he could.  What a mess...

Sunday found us at the Lentz' house, where we really enjoyed a hayride on Pappa's tractor.

 Gunnar's very wise reaction to Pappa's driving:

 

Mamma didn't seem to fare much better in the food department.  She accidentally dropped a plate of muffins on the ground.  The muffins were covered in dirt and had worms - UGH! 

She even made a Frankenstein-shaped cheese ball.  He was super cute - and he tasted good, too.

 

Despite these frightening events, we spent a great evening hanging around the campfire with Jordan's family:  Annabel with Mamma, and Thane with his beloved baby cousin Bailey.

Last, but not least, the kids donned their costumes one last time for some official trick-or-treating on Monday evening.  We got to visit some friends and neighbors, and ended up at my parent's place. There we got to hang out with more family.  Undoubtedly, the cutest pair in the bunch was Lucas and Cody who were, of course, two peas in a pod!

 

It's A Girl!

Well you can't say that the Colville branch of the family tree hasn't been prolific this year.  Since my sister's twins were born in August, we have all been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jordan's sister Maile's baby.  A few weeks ago, we attended a baby shower for her at the Lentz' home.
 
 Jordan's other sister, Abby, made the adorable cake,

and we all enjoyed watching Maile unwrap her super cute gifts.

Yesterday, Maile gave birth to our first niece.  Bailey McKenna Gray was 7 lbs. even, and she is 19 1/2" tall.  She's a cute little peanut who looks a lot like her older brother Gunnar.

Welcome to the family Bailey!  Don't tell your mommy, but we're happy that you're a little girl.

Up, Up and Away...

 

Jordan and I have only been away one night since the kids were born.  While that may not seem like much for the various home bodies we know, it is a big deal for people like us who enjoy traveling.  So we were extremely delighted when our folks agreed to watch the kids for a couple of nights.  We initially planned to go to Seattle, but decided that was a bit too far for a quick weekend getaway.  We finally settled on Leavenworth, WA, and we sure are glad that we did!  Leavenworth is a quaint Bavarian village nestled at the foot of the Cascade Mountains near the Columbia River.  Despite the fact that we found our party-pooper selves in the midst of Oktoberfest, we had a fabulous time there.  We had great ethnic food (crepes, sushi, Thai and Italian - but certainly not all at once!), did some shopping, purchased a couple of antiques and even had a great visit with Jordan's Aunt Michelle, who lives nearby. 

We stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast in Cashmere, about 10 miles east of Leavenworth.  The house was built just two years ago with the express purpose of being used as a B&B.  There are four guest rooms, each with a fireplace, down comforters, and an en suite bath.  Our room also had a jacuzzi tub.  The breakfasts were delicious, and the view from our private terrace was incredible:

The inn keepers were very friendly and helpful.  They even took a photo for us before our anniversary dinner.  If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend the Cascade Valley Inn.

Two

It's hard to believe that we recently celebrated Thane's second birthday.  He is into farm animals these days (imagine that!), so we had a farm-themed breakfast party.  Thane loved all of his presents, but the cow noise machine that he got from Annabel seemed to entertain him the most:

 

I even made a barn cake with animal cupcakes.  Of course, many found it hard to believe that I made the cake.  (If you've seen any of my previous attempts at cake decorating, you would understand their suspicions!)

Thane's other passions these days are cars and trucks.  Thus he was thrilled to get numerous "trus". 

We've very much enjoyed the last two years.  Thane's a delightful 2 year old that we all enjoy - especially when he's sleeping!  Happy Birthday little man!

Curiosities

Amongst the usual unusual things that happen around here, we've seen a few things lately that really stand out.  First, it appears that we have all unwittingly purchased waterfront property, as the low depression on Jon & Kim's land recently began to mysteriously fill up with water from hidden underground springs.  You can see just how big the pond has gotten in the lower right section of the photo below, especially in comparison to Kim's house (left middle):

Our delight at this unexpected watery wonder quickly turned to disdain, however.  Seriously, the stench from the decaying grass in that water is putrid and strong!  And guess whose house is downwind?  The smell can only be described as that of rotting seaweed along the coast.  While I have been wishing that we lived closer to the ocean, this is definitely NOT what I had in mind!

As almost everywhere else in the world, we have also experienced unusual weather this year.  Here in the northwest, we had a long, cold spring that severely impacted our growing season.  Almost all of our vegetables have been small and harvested much later than usual.  In contrast, our apple trees have done really well.  We are happy to report that we have 15-20 mature apples on our tiny trees.  Still, imagine our surprise when we inspected our trees the other day and found not only apples, but blossoms on our trees as well.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We currently (in early September!) have both apple blossoms and apples on our trees at the same time:

Has this ever happened to you?  If so, did it hinder your trees' fruit-bearing abilities the following year?

Lastly, I'm often scolded for not including photos of myself on the blog.  So to round out this post on the oddities at our farm, here's a picture of Thane and me.  Sorry, but you asked for it!


At least Thane's cute.

Kissing Cousins

Annabel is absolutely thrilled to have more cousins.  While she adores Gunnar (Jordan's sister's son), we don't often get to see or play with him.  So Annabel has been particularly excited by the arrival of two new cousins that live right next door.  She can be seen snuggling with Lucas (above) and Cody (below):

Thane, on the other hand, isn't too sure what to think of Kim & Jon's little guys.  He seemed less than thrilled (i.e. scared) of the twins during their first encounter, but he quickly warmed up to the babies.  By the end of their second visit, Thane was patting Cody on the head and hugging Lucas:

The entire family was recently together to celebrate Jon's birthday, and we somehow managed to get a shot of all four of the Ahlquist grandbabies together.  We think they are all kinda cute!

Visitors

It's been awhile since we last had visitors who weren't relatives and, therefore, under some sort of moral obligation to see us.  So you can imagine our delight when we had not one, but TWO, unexpected visits this summer.  First, we got an email from the author of a book that really helped us when we built our "unconventional" home.  We had communicated with Tom Elpel, the author, several times during the building process, and he continued to follow our house progress via the blog.  Tom has a great website on sustainable building and living, and he features homes that have been built using unconventional materials.  In June, Tom happened to be meeting friends in our neck of the woods, and he asked to stop by and take a look at our house.  We had a lovely visit, and Tom later asked if photos and information about our home could be included on his website.  We approved, and our house is now on the web for all of the world to see.  If you are interested in seeing Tom's website, please click on the following link:  http://www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/Strawbale_Stone_Home.htm. Don't worry - we won't let this go to our heads.  My only concern is that someone might stop by one day to see the house- only to discover that it's not quite as neat and tidy as it looks on the web!

Several weeks later, I received a surprise phone call from my dear, dear friend Polly Hill.  It turns out that her husband, Brian, and a friend of his were on a cross country motorcycle trip.  While biking through Yellowstone, they decided to drive an extra 8 hours or so to stop by and visit (since they were in the neighborhood!)  Brian always did warn us to watch for him if we ever heard a motorcycling rumbling up our little lane...  They arrived a bit dusty and travel weary, but we didn't care.  It was such a kick to see them, and we got to catch up on news during a lovely dinner at Jordan's folks' place.  They got to sleep in warm, comfortable beds for the first time in several days, and they even got to take showers, for which we were all grateful!  After an all-too-brief visit in the morning, Brian and Wayne left the way they came, waving goodbye as they continued on their journey.  Unfortunately, their trip was such a whirlwind that I forgot to get pictures.

The last visitor we entertained was not unexpected, although I somehow managed to forget the camera during most of his visit, too!  On the contrary, we'd been anticipating this visit for a couple years.  Johnny, Jordan's buddy from high school, last flew out to see us 2 years ago.  Johnny's demanding schedule (he's an ace student at the U.S. Naval Academy) hasn't allowed him much down time, but he was able to manage a weeklong visit here in August.  The kids were instantly smitten with their other "Uncle Johnny".  Thane, especially, was thrilled to be included in some of the more masculine events of the visit:  wood splitting, pipe smoking (calm down- pretend smoking on Thane's part), hiking, telling tall tales and other b-sing in general.  I did manage to remember to bring the camera along during a hike shortly before Johnny left.  Poor Johnny - as you can see, he got suckered into hefting Thane around, all while trying to keep up with Annabel's incessant banter.

We were very sad to see Johnny go, and we can't wait until he's able to visit us again.  When he left, Johnny strongly stated that he would not be back to see us for another 4-5 years.  Funny, I could have sworn when he arrived that he promised to be here next summer.  Hmmm...

Two Peas in a Pod

Lucas and Cody continue to delight us all.  Gosh - having nephews is much less stressful than having children.  I just love being an aunt! 

The boys are getting big already.  They've both gained weight, and they are settling into life in their new home.  We've enjoyed hanging out with Lucas, who was in the NICU when we visited him in the hospital.  Lukie looks more like an Ahlquist, and he is absolutely adorable (of course!):

Cody is definitely a Lash, and he is also just as cute as can be.  He has huge yawns, and I managed to catch him in action:
 
Like most twins, the boys already seem to have a special bond.  On a recent visit, we placed the boys in their crib about a foot or so apart.  When we peaked in the nursery a few minutes later, this is how we found them:

Kim and Jon seem to be taking parenthood in stride.  They are calm, collected and steady under pressure.  We think they look pretty good for having two 3 week olds.

We've Got It Covered

In an effort to stay cool on warm summer days, Jordan built a cozy little covered porch on the back of the house.  Annabel and Thane, of course, had to be included in the construction process.  I'm not sure how Jordan felt about their "help."  Poor guy- I'm sure that most of his projects would run much more smoothly without his special crew!

No matter how long the porch took, it has quickly become our favorite spot.  I love to work in the shade while the kids play during the day, and we all love to sit and watch the sun set each evening.  We've even spotted a shooting star or two at night.

Lastly, we're trying to remember to enjoy the flowers while they are still in bloom.  Chilly nights have returned to remind us that our summer days are numbered.  Wherever you are or whatever you do, we hope you can take a few spare minutes to appreciate the beauty of God's creation.  Enjoy!